Dairy-Free Ranch Two Ways
For all you Midwesterners and ranch-lovers out there, the lack ranch dressing or dip without dairy can be frustrating. Creating creaminess and tanginess has apparently eluded most manufacturers and home cooks alike.
To make matters worse, finding a dairy-free ranch dressing that is also free of other allergens can be a true conundrum.
Therefore, I aimed to present two non-dairy ranch dressings with various allergens excluded. I hypothesized that the one I made with an actual recipe would be better (spoiler alert: they're both delicious).
Method:
I did not randomize or blind anyone to any of the conditions- that would be foolish when accounting for allergies!
Experimental condition: Soy Free, Cashew-Based
Similar to the Caesar salad dressing post on this blog, the recipe source for ranch dressing uses cashews.
Source: https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-ranch-dressing-oil-free/
Procedures:
Note that this recipe guides you to do two things in advance of blending the ingredients:
1. Soaking and draining raw cashews
2. Create "buttermilk" by adding lemon juice to a non-dairy milk and letting it sit for a few minutes. I was (pleasantly?) surprised to find that the texture did appear a little curdled. I suppose there is some protein in the almond milk?
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(Pre-herb)
Then, all you do is blend the main ingredients, add herbs, blend again, and adjust seasoning to taste.
Control condition: Nut free, soy-based
This recipe is more of my comfort zone, since I am still relatively new to eating and cooking with tree nuts.
Source: https://www.thekitchn.com/essential-recipe-quick-ranch-dressing-recipes-from-the-kitchn-191714 (VERY LOOSELY)
Procedures:
My literature review identified that even with mayonnaise-based recipes, all ranch dressing recipes included some form of "buttermilk." Unfortunately, I only had almond milk, and needed to create a version that was 100% nut free.
Therefore, I used similar proportions as the recipe cited above, using water and lemon juice instead of buttermilk, and the rest of the seasonings were similar.
I was able to use my tiny milk frother to blend instead of my blender (to avoid cross-contamination). This was possible because the mayonnaise was already creamy, unlike the cashews.
Results:
Contrary to hypotheses, but happily, both dressings were delicious!
They paired very nicely with cherry tomatoes and mini cucumbers at our Memorial Day barbecue with dairy-free, soy-free, and nut-free individuals.
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Conclusions:
Our findings did not support superiority of either recipe. We learned that any combination of neutral creaminess, lemon flavor, and classic ranch spices will create a delicious dressing or dip (for dips, reduce the liquid).
Limitations include the two-group experimental design. Surely, more is needed.
We suggest further research into this critical area, but are confident that anyone looking to make ranch dressing (dairy-free or not) will not be disappointed.